Meath's Aoibhin Cleary chasing third All-Ireland medal before making AFLW switch

Repeating the 2021 final defeat of Dublin and clinching a third medal would be a nice way to sign off on the LGFA season.

Aoibhín Cleary: 'We've eventually gotten to be more consistent in our performances.' Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

The next three weekends will present significant milestones in the life of Meath ladies football captain Aoibhín Cleary.

First up on Sunday is the TG4 All-Ireland senior football final against Dublin and an opportunity to get her hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for a third time.

Then, on Sunday week, her partner, Cork dual star Hannah Looney, will line out at Croke Park in the All-Ireland senior camogie final.

Fast forward to the following Friday, August 15, and Cleary could very well make her AFLW debut for Richmond in Round 1 of the new season in Australia.

Quite where a potential replay of this weekend’s All-Ireland football final may fit into all of that remains to be seen. “We’ll definitely cross that bridge when it comes to it,” smiled Cleary.

What about the other burning issue, whether she might get Looney to wear a Meath jersey this weekend? “I reckon I might have a chance, yeah,” she grinned.

It is a serious business, of course, trying to win All-Ireland titles and swapping codes to play another sport on the other side of the world, all in such a tight timeframe.

Cleary is grateful for the support and experience of Looney. “Yeah, it is great,” said the 26-year-old former All-Star. “Obviously we’re both very aware of all the emotions and stuff that you’ll be going through. It’s really exciting this weekend and it’s really exciting for her in terms of next weekend as well.

“I suppose it is nice that we can feed off each other that little bit or just understand what each other is feeling at any given time.”

Cleary’s Meath colleague Vikki Wall will return to Australia for another AFLW season with North Melbourne, the reigning champions. “I think me and Vikki will definitely look to go together if we can,” said the Donaghmore-Ashbourne player, eyeing next week’s travel plans.

Wall is a proven AFLW performer, while Cleary will be dipping her toe in the pond for the first time. She has been trying to balance her All-Ireland preparations with becoming more accustomed to the oval ball.

“I’ve been consistent over the last few months,” she said of AFLW training. “Dad has been great out in the garden with me, kicking and trying to get to grips with some of the skills and stuff. Richmond as well have been great.

“We’ve had a lot of online communication and calls and stuff, so I’ve just been tipping away as much as I can. Obviously the full focus has been here, with Meath, but you still have to be tipping away at some of the AFLW stuff in the background as well, so that I’m a bit prepared heading over.”

Repeating the 2021 final defeat of Dublin and clinching a third All-Ireland medal would be a nice way to sign off on the LGFA season.

Truth be told, Meath weren’t thinking about All-Irelands and Championship glory back in spring, particularly when they went through a shaky spell in the league, losing three of their seven games.

“We had ups and downs,” said Cleary, referencing their Leinster final defeat to Dublin. “We had some good performances and some very disappointing ones. But I think even after all those losses, the belief never wavered.

“You just had to take a step back and really reflect and be like, ‘What do we need to fix here?’ I think the work ethic and the culture that we do have in the group is brilliant.

“Everyone really just put their heads down and worked on what we all needed to work on and fixed what we needed to fix.

“I think, over the year, we’ve eventually gotten to be more consistent in our performances. We were very up and down in the league. Same again in Leinster. Whereas I think over the last few weeks, we have been that bit more consistent, which has been very rewarding.

“It’s definitely something we’re going to have to take up another notch again now going into an All-Ireland final.”